Popular Heartburn Medication Being Pulled From Pharmacy Shelves

I cannot tell you how much Zantac I've taken in my lifetime, but I can assure you if I'd bought stock in that and Tums right out of High School, I'd be a rich woman by now!

That's why when news outlets like CNN started reporting this week that one of my go-to heartburn medications was being taken off the shelves across the world, that caught my attention.

According to reports, CVS has joined the ranks of pharmacies like Walgreens, Rite Aid and Walmart, in pulling the popular heartburn medication Zantac, and it's generic version of Ranitidine, off shelves in the U.S.

Stores in France and Canada have already taken similar action. Why? Well, earlier this year the FDA came out with a report saying that small amounts of a carcinogen had been found in the drug. So many of the stores took preemptive action, and removed the medication altogether.

The FDA said it's not known what effect this substance could have on people,and that they are still looking into that. But it says that in many cases, the carcinogen was around the same concentration as is found in bacon or processed meats.

Neither the pharmacies nor the FDA is recommending that patients stop taking the drug altogether, rather that folks should consult their doctors or pharmacists about alternative treatment options.

In the meantime, many pharmacies, like CVS (according to their press release) are issuing refunds to people who have purchased Zantac from it's stores.